St. Charles County Transportation Plan 2030 - East-West Gateway ...

B-3. Motorcycle, Bicycle, and Pedestrian Crashes
A safety item of interest in this study was the number of motorcycle, bicycle, and pedestrian crashes
that occurred in the County. Motorcycles had the highest number, pedestrians had the second
highest, and bicycles had the third. These data were compared to the region and the state. These
values are shown in Table 27.
Table 27
2002, 2003, 2004, Motorcycle - Bicycle - Pedestrian Crashes
County - Region - State
St. Charles Region Percent of
Region
79
State Percent of
State
Motorcycle 296 1,496 19.8% 5,331 5.6%
Bicycle 94 966 9.7% 2,315 4.1%
Pedestrian 128 2,196 5.8% 4,441 2.9%
B-4. Deficiencies in the Crash Data Analyses
The above analysis of crash data provided good information about the number of crashes that
occurred; the road segments where they happened; the number of crashes per mile; their severity,
and their crash rates. While this allowed for identification of where, how many, and how bad, it
didn’t discuss other very important factors such as the how and why these crashes occur.
There are many factors that contribute to why crashes happen. They include road conditions, sight
distances, traffic control devices, traffic volumes, possible distractions, weather conditions, time of
day, other drivers, and other factors. None of these items have been examined in this study.
The most important item that must be considered and also is not addressed is the driver and his/her
situation. Is the driver preoccupied instead of paying full attention to driving, such as talking to
passengers, listening to the radio or CD, or talking on a cell phone. Is the driver sick or having some
kind of mental or a physical problem that reduces their ability to drive the vehicle properly or simply
falling asleep or not paying close attention. Is he or she intoxicated or affected by some type of
drug. To properly address these important items a full and more comprehensive report on safety for
the County is required. Such a report is beyond the scope of this study.
Traffic engineers have been performing these investigations for years. MoDOT has experienced
engineers who apply the best techniques to analyzing crash data on roads having poor crash
statistics. Some counties and cities also have personnel with this experience or they hire traffic
consultants who have competent staff that can perform such analyses. St. Charles County and many
of the cities have used their staff and employed consultants to investigate various problem areas and
projects.